Identification tag



March 30, 1965 s vs y 3,175,317

IDENTIFI CATION TAG Filed March 6, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 N VEN TOR.

ROBERT J. SLAVSKY BY C 351mm} @Mm ATTORNEYS March 30, 1965 R. J. SLAVSKY IDENTIFICATION TAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1965 INVENTOR.

ROBERT J. SLAVSKY G M Q, 331mm ATTGRNEYS United States Patent 3,175,317 IDENTIFICATION TAG Robert J. Slavsky, Lathrop Village, Mich, assignor to Shaw & Slavsky, Inc., Detroit, Mich. Filed Mar. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 263,229 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-4) This invention relates to an identification tag particularly useful for removable attachment upon a cloth garment.

Prior identification tags have been made of sheets of plastic material folded to form a front flap and a rear flap and arranged to be worn upon the pocket of a garment, with the rear flap inserted in the pocket and the cloth of the pocket being positioned between the two flaps. Because of the smoothness of the plastic material, these tags frequently work their way out of the pocket, upon which they are mounted, as the wearer of the garment moves about, and thus, fall off and are lost. In addition, the wearer is limited in using the tag in that he must have a pocket on his garment suitable for mounting the tag.

Hence, it is an object of this invention to provide an identification tag formed of a single sheet of folded plastic material with a front flap and a rear flap but with the rear flap being provided with a number of alternate, but cooperating, fastening means for fastening it in different ways upon the wearers clothing, such as upon a pocket, upon a button, upon a necktie, or pinned directly to the garment, with the various fastening means being so formed as to provide a multiplicity of sharp gripping edges for frictionally gripping against the cloth upon'which the tag is mounted to thereby prevent the tag from becoming loose or falling off the cloth or twisting out of proper alignment.

These and further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, front view of one form of the identification tag herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective, front view of a second form thereof.

FIG. 3 is a rear, elevational view of the tags of both FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIG. 4 is a side elevational view taken in the direction of arrows 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a fastening pin, per se, and

FIG. 6 illustrates the fastening pin mounted upon the identification tag, which is fragmentarily shown.

FIG. 7 illustrates the tag mounted upon a pocket of a garment.

FIG. 8 illustrates the tag mounted upon a necktie, and

FIG. 9 illustrates the tag mounted upon a garment button.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the identification tag 10 is formed of a single sheet of flat, smooth, stifi, plastic material, the sheet being folded about a horizontal fold line 11 to form a front flap or part 12 and a rear flap or part 13. As shown in FIG. 1, indicia, such as the name of the wearer, may be written directly upon the front part using a suitable crayon or ink marking pen.

The device shown in FIG. 2 is identical to that shown in FIG. 1 except that it is provided with a flattened channel 15, adhesively or otherwise secured to the front part 12, within which an elongated card or strip 16 may be removably inserted, with the indicia 17 being printed upon the card or strip 16.

The improvements herein relate to the means for securing the tag on the garment of the wearer and more ice specifically to the fastening means formed on the rear or fastening flap 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of horizontally arranged slits or lines of severance 20 and 21 are formed in the rear part 13 close to the lower edge thereof and extending almost to the opposite side edges. These slits or lines of severance form an elongated strip 22 which normally is bowed inwardly, that is, towards the front part 12. A pair of upwardly pointed, triangularly shaped spikes 23 are formed in the rear part 13 above and adjacent to the opposite ends of the strip 22, the spikes being formed by a pair of slits 24 and the spikes being pushed inwardly to point towards the front flap 12 (see FIG. 4).

In addition, a central hole 25 and a pair of adjacent side holes 26 are formed in the rear flap 14 above the strip 22. These holes may be formed by die punching in the same operation which forms the lines of severance 21, 22 and 24. In addition, a punched out notch 27 communicates the central hole 25 with the upper line of severance 21 to thus form, in cooperation with the hole 25, a bayonet-type slot. The lower edges of the slot 27, in cooperation with the upper line of severance 21, form sharp corners28.

A pin 30 (see FIG. 5) is provided where the tag is to be pinned upon a garment. The pin is formed of a single piece of springy wire bent into a lower leg 31 having a central bent hump 32 extending out of the plane of the pin. The wire is bent into a hook 33, a wound spring-like loop portion 34 and an upper leg 35 having a sharpened end for piercing cloth and for engaging with the hook 33.

In operation, the user of the identification tag may mount the tag upon his clothing in a number of alter nate ways. For example, he may simply insert the rear flap or part 13 over the upper edge 40 of a pocket 41 in his shirt 42 so that the front flap 12 is exposed and the indicia is exposed to view (see FIG. 7). In this form of mounting, the spikes 23 press against the cloth of the pocket 41 and the edges defining the openings 25 and 26 and the slot 27, the sharp corners 28, and the lines of severance 21 and 22 all frictionally bite or press against the cloth to prevent the tag from being dislodged from the pocket and to maintain it in its desired position, thus preventing it from twisting out of the horizontal while the wearer moves about. The various lines of severance and the holes and slot tend to make the rear flap somewhat flexible in adjusting to the movement of the garment. This also prevents the otherwise smooth sheet from slipping free of the cloth.

Alternatively (see FIG. 8), the wearer may insert his necktie 45 through the lines of severance 21 and 26 thereby using the elongated horizontal strip 22 as a tie clasp, in which case the spikes 23 would normally be on the opposite sides of the necktie to prevent the tab from tipping out of the horizontal position and the sharp clean edges of the holes 25 and 26 and the slot 27 and the corners 28 tend to bite into the cloth to hold the tag properly in place upon the necktie.

Alternatively, the wearer may mount the tag upon a button 46 of his shirt 42 by inserting the button through the slot 27 to fit through the opening 25 between the two flaps 12 and 13 (see FIG. 9). Again, the various lines of severance and the spikes will press against the cloth of the garment, holding the tag properly in place upon it.

As an alternate method of mounting, the pin 30 may be positioned upon the rear flap (see FIG. 6) with the hook 33 extending through one hole 26, the upper leg 35 extending through the other hole 26, and with the hump 32 snugly received within the slot 27, to prevent shifting of the pin relative to the tag, for thereby pinning the upper leg 35 through the cloth and engaging its sharpened end with the hook 33.

It can be seen that the mounting means function to mount the tag upon the garment in alternate ways, but also cooperate to stabilize and frictionally hold the tag upon the garment in proper relationship and to provide roughening edges upon the otherwise smooth surface of the sheet.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limited sense.

I now claim:

1. An identification tag formed of a single, flat, vertically arranged sheet formed of a smooth surfaced, stiff material, the sheet being folded upon a horizontal fold line into two parallel, closely adjacent, depending parts, namely a front part and a rear part, with the rear part being shorter than the front part; said rear part being provided with garment fastening means comprising: a pair of elongated, spaced apart, horizontal lines of severance located one above the other near the lower edge of said rear part and extending to points close to the side edges of said rear part, with the horizontal strip formed between said lines of severance being normally bowed inwardly toward the front part; a struck-in upwardly pointed, triangular shaped spike formed in the rear part above and adjacent to each of the opposite ends of the upper line of severance, with said spikes being bent inwardly towards the front part; three horizontally aligned holes extending through said rear portion, the holes being located above the upper line of severance with the center hole being arranged midway between the two side edges of said rear part and the other two holes being located on opposite sides of the center hole and equally spaced therefrom and being adapted to receive the opposite ends of a pin having a rear portion formed with a central hump with the rear portion adapted to be arranged between said front and rear parts with the central hump thus fitted within said center hole for anchoring said pin rear portion; and the sheet material defining the edges of said holes, spikes, and lines of severance being relatively sharp for thus roughening the inner face of said rear portion for frictionally grasping against a piece of cloth of a garment 3 upon which said tag is mounted with the two parts of the tag receiving said piece of cloth between them.

2. An identification tag formed of a single, flat, vertically arranged sheet formed of a smooth surfaced, stiff material folded upon a horizontal fold line into two closely adjacent, depending parts forming a front part and a rear part, with the rear part being shorter than the front part and said rear part being provided with garment fastening means comprising: a pair of elongated, spaced apart, horizontal lines of severance located one above the other near the lower edge of said rear part and extending to points close to the side edges of the said rear part, with the horizontal strip formed between said lines of severance being bent inwardly towards the front part; a struck-in upwardly pointed, triangular shaped spike formed in the rear part above and adjacent to each of the opposite ends of the upper line of severance, said spikes being bent inwardly towards the front part; a keyhole shaped opening formed in the rear portion midway between the side edges thereof, the opening being located above the upper line of severance and opening into said upper line of severance and being adapted to receive a garment button; and the sheet material defining the edges of said opening, spikes and lines of severance being relatively sharp for thus roughening the inner face of said rear portion and for frictionally grasping against a piece of cloth of a garment upon which said tag is mounted, with the two parts of the tag receiving said piece of cloth between them.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 759,902 5/04 Mills et al 4023 1,634,544 7/27 Johnsos 40315 1,796,365 3/31 Goudie 4023 2,145,296 1/39 Draper et al. 4015 2,972,826 2/61 Newell 40-1.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 29,310 12/96 Great Britain. 170,637 10/21 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN IDENTIFICATION TAG FORMED OF A SINGLE, FLAT, VERTICALLY ARRANGED SHEET FORMED OF A SMOOTH SURFACED, STIFF MATERIAL, THE SHEET BEING FOLDED UPON A HORIZONTAL FOLD LINE INTO TWO PARALLEL, CLOSELY ADJACENT, DEPENDING PARTS, NAMELY A FRONT PART AND A REAR PART, WITH THE REAR PART BEING SHORTER THAN THE FRONT PART; SAID REAR PART BEING PROVIDED WITH GARMENT FASTENING MEANS COMPRISING: A PAIR OF ELONGATED, SPACED APART, HORIZONTAL LINES OF SEVERANCE LOCATED ONE ABOVE THE OTHER NEAR THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID REAR PART AND EXTENDING TO POINTS CLOSE TO THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID REAR PART, WITH THE HORIZONTAL STRIP FORMED BETWEEN SAID LINES OF SEVERANCE BEING NORMALLY BOWED INWARDLY TOWARD THE FRONT PART; A STRUCK-IN UPWARDLY POINTED, TRIANGULAR SHAPED SPIKE FORMED IN THE REAR PART ABOVE AND ADJACENT TO EACH OF THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE UPPER LINE OF SEVERANCE, WITH SAID SPIKES BEING BENT INWARDLY TOWARDS THE FRONT PART; THREE HORIZONTALLY ALIGNED HOLES EXTENDING THROUGH SAID REAR PORTION, THE HOLES BEING LOCATED ABOVE THE UPPER LINE OF SEVERANCE WITH THE CENTER HOLE BEING ARRANGED MIDWAY BETWEEN THE TWO SIDE EDGES OF SAID REAR PART AND THE OTHER TWO HOLES BEING LOCATED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE CENTER HOLE AND EQUALLY SPACED THEREFROM AND BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF A PIN HAVING A REAR PORTION FORMED WITH A CENTRAL HUMP WITH THE REAR PORTION ADAPTED TO BE ARRANGED BETWEEN SAID FRONT AND REAR PARTS WITH THE CENTRAL HUMP THUS FITTED WITHIN SAID CENTER HOLE FOR ANCHORING SAID PIN REAR PORTION; AND THE SHEET MATERIAL DEFINING THE EDGES OF SAID HOLES, SPIKES, AND LINES OF SEVERANCE BEING RELATIVELY SHARP FOR THUS ROUGHTENING THE INNER FACE OF SAID REAR PORTION FOR FRICTIONALLY GRASPING AGAINST A PIECE OF CLOTH OF A GARMENT UPON WHICH SAID TAG IS MOUNTED WITH THE TWO PARTS OF THE TAG RECEIVING SAID PIECE OF CLOTH BETWEEN THEM. 